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In this blog, I wanted to share with you my recent journey to the World Youth Festival in Nizhny Novgorod, where I was honored to be part of the Leningrad Oblast delegation. Out of many applicants, only 10 participants were selected to represent the region, and I was grateful to be among them (it feels like we are a family now).
My workday usually starts around 10 a.m. I come to the office, grab breakfast at the café on the first floor, usually a sandwich or pancakes, and head to my desk. While my computer is waking up, I make myself a cup of tea in the kitchen. That small morning routine helps me switch into work mode.
When I received my acceptance notification for the World Youth Festival Assembly, I had to read it twice to believe it was real. Out of over 62,000 applications submitted from 175 countries, only 2,000 participants were selected: 1,000 from Russia and 1,000 from abroad. The selection criteria were rigorous: experience in international youth cooperation, participation in Russian and international projects, strong English proficiency, and demonstrated leadership in fields like IT, entrepreneurship, media, and science. Being chosen from such a competitive pool felt like a validation of everything I've worked toward since arriving at ITMO.
Apart from being a PhD student and member of staff at ITMO’s Faculty of Technological Management and Innovations, I'm currently a Professor in Jilin International Studies University in China. Recently, I was honored with the prestigious Best Foreign Professor of the Year Award. This milestone means a lot to me and in this blog, I wanted to share how I got to this point and why teaching plays such an important role in my life.
Being an international student, there are times when I feel I'm experiencing two worlds at the same time. There is the traditional classroom: lectures, textbooks, professors challenging us to think critically. And then there is cyberspace, where AI answers in the form of ChatGPT, YandexGPT, DeepSeek, Gamma AI, Grok, Mathos AI, Luma, and Blackbox are instantaneously available at our fingertips, ready to answer in seconds. Every now and then, the cyber world feels faster, more accessible, and less messy than the real one. But the nagging question remains: are those tools really helping us learn — or just allowing us to graduate without skills?
St. Petersburg is renowned not just for its architectural beauty and historical depth but also for its peaceful natural setting, especially in summer. For a group of 22 Bangladeshi students studying at different universities across the city, one perfect July weekend offered a chance to leave the classrooms behind for some time and return to nature, friendship, and cultural identity.
We spend a ton of our lives online — checking out VK, binge-watching YouTube, studying on all those online platforms, or just chatting with our buddies. The internet is where we learn, connect, and chill. But have you ever thought about the invisible trail you leave behind every time you hop online? That trail is your digital footprint, and even though it might seem no big deal, it can actually show way more about you than you think. So, I got kinda curious about how much students share online, and I thought I'd check it out. I also chatted with some of my university friends about what they do online, and honestly, what I found out was pretty surprising.
Ever since I became a student at ITMO University, I had been waiting eagerly to visit Yagodnoe, the university's fabled sports and recreation camp. I had enrolled twice before but canceled at the eleventh hour due to a time limitation. This summer, though, I was not going to let the chance pass me by.
They say dreams know no borders, and mine certainly didn’t. As a young girl growing up in India, I often imagined a life beyond the familiar — a life filled with learning, exploring, and discovering the world. Studying abroad wasn’t just an ambition, it was a promise I made to myself that one day, I would step out of my comfort zone and truly chase knowledge in a new land. This promise led me to Russia.
After my escape to Vyborg from all the academic pressure, I thought I’d take it slow for a while. But life, as always, had its own plans. What followed was a string of unforgettable experiences — each one putting me out of my comfort zone and closer to who I am becoming.